In the Aftermath: Attitudes of Anesthesiologists to Supportive Strategies After an Unexpected Intraoperative Patient Death.

Background: Although most anesthesiologists will have 1 catastrophic perioperative event or more during their careers, there has been little research on their attitudes to assistive strategies after the event. There are wide-ranging emotional consequences for anesthesiologists involved in an unexpected intraoperative patient death, particularly if the anesthesiologist made an error. We used a between-groups survey study design to ask whether there are different attitudes to assistive strategies when a hypothetical patient death is caused by a drug error versus not caused by an error.

Barriers to adverse event and error reporting in anesthesia.

Background: Although anesthesiologists are leaders in patient safety, there has been little research on factors affecting their reporting of adverse events and errors. First, we explored the attitudinal/emotional factors influencing reporting of an unspecified adverse event caused by error. Second, we used a between-groups study design to ask whether there are different perceived barriers to reporting a case of anaphylaxis caused by an error compared with anaphylaxis not caused by error.

Preliminary results of the Australasian Regional Anaesthesia Collaboration: a prospective audit of more than 7000 peripheral nerve and plexus blocks for neurologic and other complications.

Background And Objectives: Peripheral nerve blockade is associated with excellent patient outcomes after surgery; however, neurologic and other complications can be devastating for the patient. This article reports the development and preliminary results of a multicenter audit describing the quality and safety of peripheral nerve blockade.

Methods: From January 2006 to May 2008, patients who received peripheral nerve blockade had data relating to efficacy and complications entered into databases.